Australia's Santos participates in two climate change initiatives

Santos, the Australian energy company, on February 21 announced its participation in two climate change initiatives.

The first initiative is Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions, which aims to eliminate the oil and gas industry's methane footprint by 2030. This initiative is sponsored by the CEO-led global Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, which focuses on accelerating actions towards a net-zero future in line with the Paris Agreement. Santos has committed to working towards achieving zero methane emissions by 2030.

The second initiative that Santos has formally endorsed is the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030. By joining this initiative, the company commits to working towards eliminating routine flaring from its oil operations by 2030.

The World Bank monitors global gas flaring, and its 2023 report indicated a reduction in gas flaring worldwide in 2022, reaching its lowest level since 2010. Santos said it will develop and implement plans to achieve its commitment and will report its progress annually to the World Bank starting in 2025.

Santos CEO, Kevin Gallagher, stated that the company is already working towards achieving net-zero scope one and two emissions (equity share) by 2040.

“The aims of the initiatives closely align with our three-hub carbon capture and storage, and low-carbon fuels strategy, which is designed to enable Santos to abate the critical fuels we are producing today and supply lower-carbon alternatives as customer demand evolves,” Gallagher said. 

Gallagher highlighted the company's three-hub strategy, focusing on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and low-carbon fuels. The flagship Moomba CCS project in the Cooper Basin is set to inject its first carbon by mid-2024.